Disaster on my Sealine 220

[GRR]

Went to the boat today for a pleasant afternoon to be greeted by the most awful smell of petrol.

cushions and fabric in the bunk bed soaked with petrol. when I removed them and the inspection hatch, I found ALL the fuel slopping in the bilge - around 35 gallons. I isolated the batteries but ....

where is the leak ?
why are the cushions soaking in petrol ?
where the hell do I go from here

for safety sake I notified the boatyard owner and harbour master but must admit I'm feeling absolutely gutted at the moment

 

[Greg2]

Blimey, sounds a bit grim. At least you discovered it before anything worse happened. Good luck getting it sorted

 

[U4]

Blimey, sounds a bit grim. At least you discovered it before anything worse happened. Good luck getting it sorted

+1, sounds like a nightmare, really hope you get it sorted soon. Strange that the bunk beds got soaked - hopefully someone will be along who can shed some light on it?

 

[oGaryo]

sounds awful, don't have an answer but feel for you and as said, hope you get it sorted quickly

 

[GRR]

Are sealine fuel tanks stainless or aluminium ? Could the tank be corroded or fuel line leak ?

 

[rafiki_]

First check would be fuel hoses, then the tank. Is the bunk wet with fuel? Or heavy fumes? If wet, what part of the fuel system is in the vicinity? Start with the simplest things first.
Good luck with the fix.

 

[AndieMac]

The tank may have corroded from the bottom, particularly if alloy and sitting in bilge water over a long period of time, and the fact that it's entirely empty, and soaked the low lying midship cushions?
Tow the boat to a trailer or slip and drain the bilge fuel out through the bung or extractor pump into drums.

 

[halcyon]

Are sealine fuel tanks stainless or aluminium ? Could the tank be corroded or fuel line leak ?

From memory stainless, normally in bilge look below fuel filler, where is the fuel valve located, is it above bunk ? fuel lines were mainly rigid.

Brian

 

[Aardee]

I've no knowledge of your boat layout at all, but could the problem have occurred during your last fill-up? - Are you one of those folks that fills up just before leaving the boat?

 

[GRR]

Hi Mystique

I launched her about a month ago and took her to Yarmouth to fill up with petrol and water. I've been out about 5 times since then
Last trip out about a week ago and there was no indication of a problem.

 

[[2068]]

Nightmare.

It might be a different layout on a 220, but on our S240, the water tank was the one under the bunk, and the fuel tank was higher up, behind the bulkhead between the rear cabin and the engine bay.
So a leak could have soaked the cushions on the way to the bilge.

First thing to do is get access to the tank, and make sure it's nothing simple like a pipe coming off.
Getting a new tank fabricated isn't the end of the world, but the "challenge" will be getting the old one out and refitting the new one - having help from someone that has done something similar makes things much easier.

 

[jrudge]

No one seems to have mentioned it but I assume this is very very dangerous.

Some professional help must first be in order to remove the fuel and fumes before you do anything I would think.

Have you told you insurance company.

Getting on the boat at all sounds lethal let alone seeking to investigate or work in any way.

It is no exaggeration that any spark could blow it (and you) to bits. I don't know if you have ever seen a petrol explosion. I have on a small scale and the explosion from less than a pint of petrol is staggering.

 

[GRR]

I've informed the boatyard and harbour master

next job will be to vent properly and to hand pump out the bilge into Gerry cans

I've removed batteries

definitely no mobiles on board

 

[Nick_H]

I've informed the boatyard and harbour master

next job will be to vent properly and to hand pump out the bilge into Gerry cans

I've removed batteries

definitely no mobiles on board

I'm with jrudge on this. You wouldn't get me on that boat until the fuel has been drained, any residue has evaporated, and the bilges vented until any fumes had cleared. I'd consider seeking some guidance from the fire service on how to approach it.

 

[DAKA]

I've informed the boatyard and harbour master

next job will be to vent properly and to hand pump out the bilge into Gerry cans

I've removed batteries

definitely no mobiles on board

I had this with a Bayliner.

The fumes are highly flammable.

I did manage to have a fire with what looked like a bucketful of water. woooof . and it wouldnt go out !

If it was rough the last time you went out and it is a stainless steel tank then chances are you ruptured a weld.
Stainless is the wrong material; for petrol tanks in sports boats.

Im sure your Insurers would like to get involved before you kill yourself and set fire to a marina full of boats.

 

[maby]

Sounds scary - as others have said, take very great care in getting it cleared.

As far as the upholstery getting soaked is concerned, don't forget that petrol is very volatile - we have had some warm days in the last week or two, so the air in the boat would quickly have become saturated with petrol vapour. A few cool nights to condense it out and much of the interior could have become soaked, I would have thought.

Be careful to get enclosed spaces ventilated as well as the main volume of the cabin. Lockers and bilges are probably full of vapour - don't get caught out thinking that you've cleared it all, only to subsequently open a cupboard and finding a pocket of explosive vapour.

 

[GRR]

Many thanks for the good advice

My last couple of trips out were all very calm with no drama.

Could it have been damaged if someone tried to syphon the tank - just a thought

 

[Scubadoo]

I've informed the boatyard and harbour master

next job will be to vent properly and to hand pump out the bilge into Gerry cans

I've removed batteries

definitely no mobiles on board

I don't think I would have removed the batteries, you could have had a spark on removal. As other have said get some professional help and let your insurers know. Good luck, I know I would be devastated to find fuel everywhere.

 

[maby]

....

Could it have been damaged if someone tried to syphon the tank - just a thought

Seems unlikely - that could have damaged the filler pipe, but at most that would have released a couple of pints and even that only if the tank was completely full. All the openings in a tank tend to be at the top, so the only way I could see you getting so much fuel dumped into the bilges would be a leak in the tank itself. A leak in the fuel feed to the engine could dump a lot of fuel while the engine was running, but you would have noticed that before you left the boat last time.

 

[AdeOlly]

I don't think I would have removed the batteries, you could have had a spark on removal. As other have said get some professional help and let your insurers know. Good luck, I know I would be devastated to find fuel everywhere.

That was my thought too - lucky not to have got sparks disconnecting the batteries. I also consider it a professional job removing that much petrol from the boat. GRR - Have you called your insurers? Whilst it's unlikely your fuel tank will be covered, the consequential damage and prevention of further damage, i.e. fire and explosion, quite probably is.